Stack chair



Dec. 23, 1969 D. L. MOORE ET AL 3,485,525

STACK CHAIR Filed March 7, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A +L 2 v 25 Fig. 2

mvsmoas DONALD L. MOORE PAUL M. FRICKE, JR. RAYMOND R. SPILMAN WILLIAM H. TUCKER M I %,gwf r ATTORN EYS Dec. 23, 1969 MOORE ET AL 3,485,525

' STACK CHAIR I Filed March 7, 1968 2 Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS DONALD L.. MOORE PAUL M. FRICKE,JR. RAYMOND R. SPILMAN WILLIAM H. TUCKER BY w ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,485,525 STACK CHAIR Donald L. Moore, Paul M. Fricke, Jr., and William H.

Tucker, Gallatin, Tenn., and Raymond R. Spilman,

Stamford, Conn., assignors to Hamilton Cosco, Inc.,

Columbus, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Filed Mar. 7, 1968, Ser. No. 711,353 Int. Cl. A47c 3/04 US. Cl. 297-239 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A chair adapted to be stacked vertically on top of another identical chair in an interfitting stacked relationship. The chair has a seat mounted on a frame which is attached to pairs of front and rear legs. The rear legs extend above the seat and are interconnected at their upper ends by a backrest. The lateral spacing between the legs is greater than the width of the seat and seat frame, and each rear leg has a positioning bracket mounted on its inner face slightly below its connection to the seat frame. Therefore, when one chair is stacked on top of a second chair, the front and rear legs of the upper chair straddle the seat of the lower chair, and the positioning brackets of the upper chair bear against the seat frame of the lower chair and prevent relative lateral movement therebetween.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a chair which is capable of being stacked in an interfitting relationship with a plurality of identical chairs to form a stable and compact unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one form of the invention, there is provided a seat mounted on a seat frame, including a pair of side rails curved laterally outwardly from the seat at their front and rear ends. Pairs of front and rear legs are connected to the outwardly curved front and rear ends of the side rails. The rear legs extend upwardly from the seat and are interconnected adjacent the upper ends by a backrest. Thus, one chair may be stacked on top of another with the front and rear legs of the upper chair straddling the seat of the lower chair.

A positioning bracket is mounted on the inner face of each rear leg slightly below its connection with the side rail. Thus, when one chair is stacked on another, the positioning brackets of the upper chair bear against the side rails of the seat frame on the lower chair to prevent relative lateral movement between the chairs, and to thereby increase the stability of the stack of chairs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a chair embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a pair of chairs shown in FIG. 1 in stacked relation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown the chair is provided with a seat having downturned flanges 12 along its lateral edges. The seat is mounted on a supporting frame formed by a pair of transverse rods 11 and 13 connected, as. by welding, to a pair of side rails 14 and 15 having their front and rear ends curved laterally outwardly at 16 and 17. The central portion of the seat is supported on the rods 11 and 13 with its flanges 12 abutting the inner faces of the side rails 14 and 15 and connected thereto, as by bolts 19, said flanges having recesses 18 formed in their lower edges for reception over the rods 11 and 13.

A pair of front legs 20 are connected, as by welding, to the outwardly curved front ends 16 of the side rails and are cross-braced by a transverse stretch 22. A pair of rear legs 23 are connected, as by welding, to the outwardly curved rear ends 17 of said rails and project upwardly above the plane of the seat 10. The rear legs are angled rearwardly above the seat, as at 24, and their upper rearwardly angled portions 24 are interconnected by a backrest 25. As shown in FIG. 4, vertically extending flanges 26 having arcuate cross-sections are disposed along the lateral edges of the backrest and are connected to the rear leg portions 24 as by screws 28.

The offset ends 16 and 17 of the side rails dispose the legs 20 and 23 laterally outwardly from the sides of the seat 10. Thus, one chair can be stacked upon another, as shown in FIG. 5', with the front and rear legs of the upper chair being disposed laterally outwardly with respect to the seat of the lower chair and forwardly of the front and rear legs, respectively, of said lower chair. In such stacked position, the backrest of the upper chair will also be disposed in a nested position in front of the backrest on the lower chair.

As shown in FIG. 2, a positioning bracket 30 is mounted, as by a countersunk screw 32, on the inner face of each rear leg 23 slightly below the plane of the side rails 14 and 15. Conveniently, the brackets are formed from nylon or any other suitable non-marring material, and extend inwardly from the rear legs a distance slightly less than the distance that the side rail ends 16 and 17 are curved outwardly. Thus, when a pair of chairs are in stacked position, the brackets 30 on the upper chair will abut the side rails 14 and 15 on the lower chair immediately forwardly of the rail rear ends 17 to minimize lateral movement of the upper chair with respect to the lower chair and increase the stability of the stack.

We claim:

1. A chair, comprising a seat mounted on a seat frame, pairs of front and rear legs connected to said seat frame, said seat being disposed within the lateral extent of said seat frame and said front and rear legs being disposed outside the lateral extent of said seat frame, said rear legs extending above said seat, a backrest connected to said rear legs above said seat, and means on the inner faces of said rear legs below the plane of the seat frame and projecting inwardly from each rear leg to engage the seat frame of a second chair when a pair of chairs are'in stacked relation one on top of the other.

2. A chair, comprising a seat frame having a pair of interconnected side rails curved laterally outwardly at their front and rear ends, a seat mounted on said seat frame, pairs of front and rear legs connected to said ends of said side rails and disposed outside the lateral extent of said seat, said rear legs extending above said seat, a backrest connected to said rear legs above said seat, and means on the inner faces of said rear legs below the plane of the seat frame and projecting inwardly from said rear legs to engage the seat frame of a second chair when a pair of chairs are in stacked relation one on top of the other.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 in which said seat has flanges along its lateral edges connected to the inner faces of said side rails.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 2 in which said side rails are interconnected by a pair of transverse rods and said seat has a pair of fianges along its lateral edges connected to the inner face of said side rails, said flanges having recesses formed therein for reception over said rods.

5. The invention as set forth in claim 2 in which said means comprises a pair of brackets mounted on said rear legs adjacent and below the connection of the rear legs to the outwardly curved rear ends of the side rails, said brackets projecting inwardly from said rear legs a distance slightly less than the distance that said rear ends of the side rails are curved outwardly.

6. A chair, comprising a seat frame having a pair 0 interconnected side rails curved laterally outwardly at their front and rear ends, a seat mounted on said seat frame, pairs of front and rear legs connected to said ends of said side rails and disposed outside the lateral extent of said seat, and means on the inner faces of said rear legs below the plane of the seat frame and projecting inwardly from said rear legs to engage the seat frame of a second chair when a pair of chairs are in stacked relation one on top of the other.

7. A chair, comprising a seat frame having a pair of interconnected side rails each provided with a pair of lateral projections disposed in front to rear spaced relation, a seat mounted on said seat frame, pairs of front and rear legs connected to said projections on said side rails and disposed outside the lateral extent of said seat, and means on the inner faces of said rear legs below the plane of the seat frame and projecting inwardly from said rear legs to engage the seat frame of a second chair when a pair of chairs are in stacked relation one on top of the other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 26,071 8/1966 Rowland 297239 1,664,356 3/1928 Dellert 297239 3,246,927 4/ 1966 Klassen 297239 3,273,922 9/1966 Rasor 297239 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,383,212 11/1964 France.

JAMES T. MCCALL, Primary Examiner 

